A dozen willing to challenge Fog

[two gun sid]

From DRF:
Reigning Eclipse Award-winning sprinter Lost in the Fog may not have scared away any of the opposition, but the freakishly fast Dubai Escapade obviously did when entries were drawn Monday for Saturday's $1.96 million Summit of Speed program at Calder Race Course.

A surprisingly large field of 13 horses, including Lost in the Fog, passed the entry box for the Grade 2, $500,000 Smile Sprint while only seven fillies and mares, led by the once-beaten Dubai Escapade, will contest the Grade 1, $500,000 Princess Rooney Handicap.

The Summit of Speed will also include six other stakes, topped by the Grade 2 Carry Back for 3-year-olds and the Grade 3 Azalea Breeders' Cup for 3-year-old fillies. Both races offer a purse of $300,000. Also part of the 13-race program, which offers a guaranteed $500,000 all-stakes pick five wager, are the $100,000 Calder Turf Sprint, $100,000 Distaff Turf Sprint, the $80,000 Birdonthewire for 2-year-olds, and its filly counterpart, the $80,000 Cassidy Stakes.

Lost in the Fog will carry high weight of 125 pounds in the six-furlong Smile Sprint, one more than he toted to victory in the Grade 3 Artistides BC Handicap on June 3 at Churchill Downs. Lost in the Fog won his first eight starts as a 3-year-old, including the 2005 Carry Back, before concluding his campaign with a seventh-place finish in the BC Sprint.

http://www.drf.com/news/article/76300.html

[Justpat]

1. He finished up t he track.

He looked magnificent in the post parade, but very dull during the race.

Local horse, Nightmare Affair, won and paid 31.00
Pomeroy, first time lasix was second.


Heavy favorite Dubai Escapade also got beat in the Princess Rooney.
Another local horse won that. Malibu Mint.

[two gun sid]

2. I think I'm gonna cry!!!!....

I expected so much from LITF this year.

[Justpat]

3. In one of the pre race interviews,

the trainer said LITF had gotten real studdish this year. Maybe his mind just isn't on running
anymore. We'll see.

He was carrying 10 lbs more than some of the field. I'd be willing to see how he runs next time
before I write him off.

And although he won on that track last year, this year it looked even deeper and drier than usual.
The horses were kicking up dust along with the usual dirt. They didn't put too much water on it
and that makes it dry and loose. It is a very difficult track if you aren't used to it.

We have had wonderful sprinters that refused to get out of a gallop over there.

[two gun sid]

4. I can live with him being ready to move on...

to the breeding shed. I hope that's what it is.

I just hate seeing him get his bridle jerked by horses that couldn't have warmed him up last year. He has been one of the horses I have followed and looked so forward to his races. I wanted him to prove that his loss in the BC Sprint was a fluke. He looked horrible yesterday.

[aaronbees]

5. He was exciting last year...

This year he may have lost a step, or perhaps the others have stepped up. I think he needs things his own way to have a shot at winning, though -- ie, on the lead ... I think he may be whisked off to the breeding shed now, which is a shame. In spots he could still be spectacular, I think.

[Awsi Dooger]

8. I wouldn't put too much stake in a flop at Calder

That's my original home town and I was always trying to beat the sprint favorites on that track if they were new to Calder. Generally worked great. That's an ugly surface. Deep, dusty and dry as Old Broad said.

[aaronbees]

6. Declan's Moon

... finished second in a comeback for the 2004 champ two-year-old colt today -- 1st race at Hollywood. Apparently got nipped at the wire by Desert Boom -- 6 1/2 furlongs in 1:15:89. Haven't seen it yet but supposedly ran a good one for so much time off. I like this guy and hope he makes some noise later this year.

http://www.equibase.com/premium/eqbSummaryResultsDisplay.cfm?TRK=HOL&CY=USA&DATE=07/16/2006&STYLE=EQB

[two gun sid]

7. Hey, Bernardini fans, check out his latest workout....

From The Bloodhorse:
Darley Stable's Bernardini, winner of the Preakness Stakes (gr. I), turned in an eye-catching work at Belmont Monday, breezing five furlongs in a bullet :58 4/5, the fastest of 15 works at the distance. The colt will make his next start in the July 29 Jim Dandy Stakes (gr. II).

"We were looking for about 1:00, galloping out in 1:13," trainer Tom Albertrani said. "But he did it so easily, and that's the important thing. He came back like he never worked and wasn't blowing at all. Simon (Harris) said he never had to ask him.

"He went off in :12 3/5 and :24 and change and then started to pick it up. He came home his last quarter in :23 and change and galloped out in 1:12 1/5. Even in his last few works, even though he worked slower, he galloped out very strong. This wasn't that surprising; he did work in :59 2/5 before the Preakness."

Albertrani said Bernardini will run in the Jim Dandy, with Saturday's Ohio Derby (gr. II) winner Deputy Glitters going in the Haskell Invitational (gr. I) the following week.

http://news.bloodhorse.com//viewstory.asp?id=34465

[two gun sid]

9. Retirement a possibility for Lost in the Fog

From DRF:
In the wake of Lost in the Fog's ninth-place finish Saturday in the Grade 2 Smile Sprint at Calder, trainer Greg Gilchrist said that he and owner Harry Aleo are giving thought to retiring the colt. Lost in the Fog, the champion sprinter of 2005, will get a rest, Gilchrist said, and a decision on his future will be made when he returns to training.

"We're not leaning one way or the other," he said. "We'll give him time to get his feet underneath him and see how he is. We want to determine if he can be competitive at the level he should be. If it were going to take two or three months to bring him back, and there was only one race left for him this year, we'd probably retire him."

Gilchrist said Lost in the Fog didn't seem to try in the Smile, in which he carried high weight of 125 pounds and was the even-money favorite. Aleo and Gilchrist have said that Lost in the Fog, a 4-year-old by Lost Soldier, would race as both a 4-year-old and 5-year-old, and this is the first time they have questioned that plan.

http://www.drf.com/news/article/76543.html